The A Lists: 1980 (65)

• The Clash: London Calling (Epic)
• Prince: Dirty Mind (Warner Bros.)
• Talking Heads: Remain in Light (Sire)
• Chic: Real People (Atlantic)
• Wanna Buy a Bridge? (Rough Trade)
• John Lennon/Yoko Ono: Double Fantasy (Geffen)
• Professor Longhair: Crawfish Fiesta (Alligator)
• Tom Robinson: Sector 27 (I.R.S.)
• Gang of Four: Entertainment! (Warner Bros.)
• Robert Ashley: Perfect Lives (Private Parts: the Bar) (Lovely Music)
• Jon Hassell/Brian Eno: Fourth World Vol. 1: Possible Musics (Editions EG)
• The Angry Samoans: Inside My Brain (Bad Trip)
• Alberta Hunter: Amtrak Blues (Columbia)
• Burning Spear: Social Living (Burning Spear import)
• John Prine: Storm Windows (Asylum)
• Public Image: Second Edition (Island)
• Bruce Springsteen: The River (Columbia)
• Michael Hurley: Snockgrass (Rounder)
• Stevie Wonder: Hotter Than July (Tamla)
• X: Los Angeles (Slash)
• Poly Styrene: Translucence (United Artists import)
• Joe "King" Carrasco and the Crowns: Joe "King" Carrasco and the Crowns (Hannibal)
• Pablo Moses: A Song (Mango)
• Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band: Doc at the Radar Station (Virgin)
• English Beat: I Just Can't Stop It (Sire)
• Feelies: Crazy Rhythms (Stiff)
• Popeye (Boardwalk)
• KC and the Sunshine Band: Greatest Hits (T.K.)
• The Great Rap Hits (Sugarhill)
• Lucinda: Happy Woman Blues (Folkways)
• Neil Young: Hawks & Doves (Reprise)
• The Clash: Black Market Clash (Epic)
• Dollar Brand: African Marketplace (Elektra)
• Steel Pulse: Reggae Fever (Mango)
• Undertones: Hypnotized (A&M)
• T-Bone Burnett: Truth Decay (Takoma)
• Henry Cow: Western Culture (Interzone)
• Warren Zevon: Stand in the Fire (Asylum)
• Bob Marley & the Wailers: Uprising (Island)
• The Specials (Chrysalis)
• Ronnie Barron: Blues Delicacies Vol. One (Vivid Sound import)
• Aerosmith: Greatest Hits (Columbia)
• George Jones: I Am What I Am (Epic)
• Bunny Wailer Sings the Wailers (Mango)
• The Sir Douglas Quintet: The Best of the Sir Douglas Quintet (Takoma)
• Joy Division: Unknown Pleasures (Factory)
• Robert Jr. Lockwood & Johnny Shines: Hangin' On (Rounder)
• The Jacksons: Triumph (Epic)
• Pere Ubu: New Picnic Time (Chrysalis import)
• The Psychedelic Furs: The Psychedelic Furs (Columbia)
• Rockpile: Seconds of Pleasure (Columbia)
• Gil Scott-Heron/Brian Jackson: 1980 (Arista)
• Diana Ross: Diana (Motown)
• Shalamar: Three for Love (Solar)
• More Intensified! Volume 2 Original Ska 1963-67 (Mango)
• Manhattans: Greatest Hits (Columbia)
• Oi!--the Album (EMI import)
• Big Youth: Progress (Negusa Nagast import)
• Teddy Pendergrass: TP (Philadelphia International)
• Donna Summer: The Wanderer (Geffen)
• The Selecter: Too Much Pressure (Chrysalis)
• The Suburbs: In Combo (Twin/Tone)
• The Brains (Mercury)
• Club Ska '67 (Mango)
• Gang of Four: Gang of Four (Warner Bros.)

Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s, 1990

Rock Library: Before 1980

The A Lists: 1981